Amid the increasing talks of global crypto regulations, an international financial regulator has published its report with several recommendations. In a recent move, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) says that global regulations will make compliance necessary for crypto firms further safeguarding the industry.
On Monday, the FSB published final recommendations requested by the G20 on supervising firms that trade crypto assets such as Bitcoin. The FSB is an international monitoring body established under a G20 summit in 2019, responsible for regulating and making recommendations about the global financial system.
Talking about the need for crypto regulation, the FSB stated that globally agreed rules leave crypto firms with no option but to introduce basic safeguards to prevent the blow-ups seen at FTX exchange and other crypto casualties. Along with the set of final recommendations, the agency also revised its existing recommendations for stablecoins in context of the collapse of TerraUSD/Luna coins.
The report writes that both the recommendations borrow universal guidelines from mainstream finance before the sector grows big enough to pose a threat to financial stability. The recommendations focus on robust governance to avoid conflicts of interest, and proper risk management and disclosures to ensure that customer money is seprated from company cash. The FSB stated:
As recent events have illustrated, if linkages to traditional finance were to grow further, spillovers from cryptoasset markets into the broader financial system could increase.
In the report, the FSB highlighted the vulnerabilities of crypto firms which were evident from the events in the crypto space following the collapse of FTX exchange in November 2022 similar to what was highlighted in its annual report last year. In that report, the FSB urged the vulnerabilities make the crypto sector to be regulated in the same way as financial markets. The FSB said that all countries should apply the recommendations, irrespective of the agency’s jurisdiction. John Schindler, FSB Secretary General, briefed media:
Therefore, cryptoasset players need to stop operating outside the regulatory perimeter or in non-compliance with existing rules.
The FSB urged the implementation of these guidelines even in the areas that are not members of the watchdog citing the example of FTX which was based in the Bahamas, not an FSB member. Schindler also explained that the guidelines are very clear and serve the purpose of clarity. He said:
These players can no longer argue there is a lack of regulatory clarity, as our framework makes clear the standards that should apply.
Notably, the recent FSB recommendations follow up on the letter written by Klass Knot, chairman of the FSB, to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors. In their work plan for 2023, the FSB finalized its recommendations for regulating crypto and stablecoins by July.
The FSB norms are expected to be made more granular by additional measures from global banking and securities watchdogs Basel Committee and IOSCO. IOSCO proposed in May the first global approach to regulating crypto market day-to-day operations.
Additionally, the G20 countries are poised to efficiently establish a set of comprehensive regulation for the crypto sector. In a report to G20 about crypto regulation, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) disregarded any monetary use of crypto.